Motel Madness
by Mrs RiSpiz
Summary: Alister and Zip get more than they can handle as they are forced on the run after Lara's latest run in with some rather unsavoury characters.
1. Chapter 1

Ri: Welcome to Motel Madness, sorry if there are any mistakes, this is for your enjoyment rather than a literacy masterpiece

**Motel Madness**

Alister stretched as he stepped out the van. They had pulled into a travel lodge that was inconveniently placed off a random slip road that looked more like a farm track; they had missed the turning on their first time passing it and had driven twenty minutes down the main road before Alister had convinced Zip they should turn back. It was ten minutes to eleven, and last minute bookings had to be made before eleven, so Zip had pulled into the car park and leapt out the van into the reception, leaving Alister to park and lock up.

He wrapped his arms around himself as he began to shiver as the icy wind cut through his surprisingly thin clothing. He wished sullenly that Lara had given them a little more time to prepare for a long journey, but she couldn't be faulted; she was lucky to have been able to give them any warning at all.

He watched Zip walking back towards him waving a set of keys with a big grin. "We're in luck. Still a room available; winter's a busy season!"

Alister smiled slightly. "What room?"

Zip paused to check the huge tag the made it impossible to somehow forget you had the motel's keys with you when you drove off. He sniffed as he stood beside Alister, looking at the set of buildings. "B block," he pointed to the second building a little further from the main building. "There, second floor, room two-oh-seven." Zip started walking away, "I'll go open the door, you bring the suitcase."

Alister nodded grimly as he dug the van keys out his pocket and with shaking fingers tried to locate and place the key in the lock at the back door of the van. It took him a while to get it open, grumbling to himself at Zip who was probably already inside and getting comfortable. He moaned as he realised the case was just out of arms reach, and he took hold of one of the handles at the side, pulling himself up, swearing as he carelessly bashed his knee against the bottom.

Once inside the back, he didn't even bother to stand, crawling forward to take a grip of the strap that was tied around the case and drag it slowly back out, clambering down to the ground with much more care than he had executed whilst getting in. He closed his eyes as he hefted the case over his shoulder, and slammed the van door shut, giving it a tug to make sure the automatic locking mechanism hadn't failed before forcing his eyes open and stumbled towards the second building.

Zip grimaced as he looked around the room. He had told the attendant at the reception desk that he had wanted a room for just that night, and that he was travelling with a second person. Clearly she had got the wrong idea when she had peered out the window as Alister climbed out the van. He stood in the doorway a moment longer before taking a step in, wincing again as there appeared to be no adjoining room. No, there was one, he corrected himself: a bathroom.

"What's this?" a strong British voice sounded behind him.

"The only room left," Zip said simply. It wasn't true, but as he turned to face Alister, it came out before he had a chance to think. "Unless you want to sleep in the van."

Alister sent him a suspicious glare as he moved to place the suitcase at the far end of the small room.

Zip shrugged and sat on the bed, bouncing on it a little. "Comfy enough."

"There's no sofa, not even a chair? How much did you pay for this room?"

Zip raised an eyebrow. "It was cheap; we're only staying one night." He leaned back, spreading his arms and legs to cover the entire width of the smallish double bed. "But if you really want, you can sleep on the floor."

"What do you mean, I can sleep on the floor?" Alister said, folding his arms in his usual irritated manner. "To make it fair, we should toss a coin or something."

Zip sat up suddenly and grinned wildly at the historian. "No, no, no! I actually hold no reservations against sharing a bed with you, or anyone. If you really don't want to share _you_ can sleep on the floor."

"Or the van," Alister muttered miserably before slowly walking round to sit on the other side of the bed. As he sat down, tenderly testing the softness of the mattress, Zip hurriedly undid the laces on his shoes and kicked them off and began unzipping his trousers.

"What are you doing?" Alister cried out in horror.

"I'm not sleeping in mah clothes!" Alister's eyes suddenly opened impossibly wide. "I'm keeping on my underwear. It's not how I prefer to sleep, mind," Zip grinned with a wink. "But this is my first time in bed with you, and I don't know if you can keep your hands to yourself."

"You have **no worry of that!**"

Zip finished taking his trousers off, chuckling to himself, and once he was down to his boxers and undershirt he settled back. He glanced sideways at Alister. "You're sleeping in your clothes? That's dirty!"

"You would know," Alister hissed in a less than friendly tone before taking his own shoes off. He hesitated before fiddling with his belt buckle. "Why are you watching? Look away!"

"Why did you wait for me to finish before undressing yourself? Unless you wanted me to help," Zip teased very much not to the satisfaction of Alister. "You knew I'd have nothing better to do than watch 'cause believe it or not, between you, two blank walls, and a wall with a door in it, I would rather watch you." Zip felt a strange warm feeling stirring in his stomach as Alister blushed, and tried to use the covers to hide himself as well as possible as he slipped his trousers off, and soon his jacket joined the other items on the floor.

He was about to lean back when Zip cleared his throat.

"With no night clothes, underwear you can get away with wearing into bed. But a shirt you're probably going to spend the next few days in?" Zip scrunched his face in mock disgust.

Alister hesitated. "I don't have anything on underneath," he said bashfully.

Zip sighed heavily, barely resisting the urge to turn and bash his head against the wall, or bet yet, knock Alister's head against the wall. "Alister, for Christ sake! You're a man! You have nothing to hide!"

Alister didn't move to take his shirt off , he seemed to be fighting an inner battle; his dignity was at stake, and it was either personal hygiene against exposing himself to Zip of all people.

In the end, hygiene won, and he quickly unbuttoned his shirt, cursing as his fingers refused to comply immediately, and near on tossed it to the floor, very aware and unsettled at Zip's roaming eyes. As it joined the pile on the floor, he hurriedly lay back and pulled the covers up, and Zip propped himself up on one elbow.

"What?" Alister asked, feeling a little irritated at Zip's casualness.

"You're actually quite cute," Zip smiled, before realising what he has said. "I mean, you're cute in a modest way people don't see when you're hiding behind you're books." Zip lay back down. "Though that's cute too," he said to himself quietly, unsure if Alister heard the last bit, and the warm feeling in his stomach swirled back up as he realised he hoped the Englishman did hear. When Alister didn't respond, Zip continued sleepily, "It's a quality." And he yawned, closing his eyes so he didn't see Alister sending him suspicious, calculating glances.

Ri – part 2 up in a jiffy.


	2. Chapter 2

Ri: Motel Madness continues...oh it took so long. So so so so so long. Sorry...wait, no. This is mere seconds after the first chapter. A new record! Okay, I cheated.

**Motel Madness**

They were back on the road early, before anyone else in the motel had risen. Zip checked out as Alister packed the case back into the van, unconsciously fiddling with his shirt, wishing Zip had let him take a shower before they left, and also feeling stupid at being tricked into stripping for the hacker who had got close and personal sometime during the night; Alister had a awoken to find himself entangled in the dark arms, soft, warm breath playing across his neck.

After wriggling stealthily from that impending conundrum, Alister had hurriedly dressed as fast as he could, waking Zip in the process as he fell to the floor after hopping madly whilst trying to pull on his trousers that refused to slip on quickly and without hassle. Zip had just watched for a while, resisting the urge to laugh as Alister struggled with the rest of his clothing before startling the Englishman by suddenly leaping out of bed.

They were driving along some of the smaller B roads, avoiding joining the main road until the day started more officially and the road filled up.

Alister pointed to a sign as they passed it and quickly slapped Zip's shoulder.

"Turn off there, next right."

Zip quickly glanced at him. "Why?" he asked, before turning the indicator on regardless.

"We want to avoid some of the bigger cities."

"But we could get lost easier," he said whilst turning onto a road that lead them towards a residential area.

"Also, more predictable. Until we know what's going on, we should try and stay invisible."

Zip parked in an open car park space behind a homely looking cafe, exiting the vehicle in a less than casual manner. After a minute of fighting an inner battle, long enough for them to have walked down the street, Alister took the keys from Zip and ran back to the van. His heart jumped to his throat as he fumbled at the back door, his ears straining as another car slowly pulled into the small car park, crunching over the gravel, breaks giving a little scream as it stopped.

He forced himself to simply focus on getting the case from the van, even though he was sure that the occupier of the parked car was watching him. His fingers shook as he picked up the case, and locked up again, walking quickly back to the street side.

Zip was waiting for him. "What took you so long?" Alister mumbled a few vowels sounds, but before he could give a proper answer Zip took the keys from him and held them up. "Look," he said in mock awe. "Technological masterpiece of the new millennia, electronic mechanism!"

Alister gave him a glare. "If you must know I was...ah," he trailed off as he looked nervously behind him towards the alley that led to the car park.

"I know, I saw him going down. Probably nothing." Alister nodded, but it did nothing to quiet his nerves. "Come on, this way." Zip said in his most calming voice, and he placed a hand on Alister's shoulder and steered him into the cafe.

A blast of warm air his them as they entered which felt like a comforting hug after their long, tense drive. Inside was as homely as it promised to be from the outside, pictures of animals that looked like people's pets lined the walls which were a creamy colour. The floor was carpeted with a soft blue fabric and the tables were set out in a spacious layout, white covers on each top, and a wire animal in the middle, each table had a different animal, which served as a decoration, and a holder for the menu.

Zip continued to direct Alister towards the table in the furthest corner, and didn't remove his hand until the Englishman had sat down. Zip took the seat opposite him and eagerly picked up the menu from the clutches of a wire swan, exchanging a humoured glance with Alister as his stomach growled loudly.

"Excuse me!" the hacker sniggered as he began to read through the menu. "What do you want?"

Alister blinked. "What do you mean?"

Zip set him with a disbelieving stare. "You want to go to the restroom to strip first, or should I?" He rolled his eyes as Alister let out an angry 'Hmph'. "What do you want to eat?"

They both froze as the little bell above the door jingled as it opened, but Zip relaxed as he saw it was only a teenage girl who bounded through to the room labelled "kitchen", though not after sending a curious glance their way. Zip chuckled again, but stopped as he found himself under the scrutiny of two very wide, blue eyes.

"I'm not hungry," Alister said in dead tone.

Zip would have given him a crooked smile and a soft berating, but something inside recognised the developing exhaustion in his features. "Have something, it doesn't have to be much."

Alister sighed. "You order something if you must."

Making a mental note of the items from the menu, Zip stood and walked uncertainly over to the tall table that stood beside the door that lead into the kitchen and he tried to peer in.

"Um, excuse me? We're ready to..."

"I'll be right out!" came the hasty reply.

Zip gave a little shrug and sat back down. They waited in silence as though not daring to start any conversation, but it was not long before the girl who had startled them earlier came hurrying towards them. She had changed from what must have been a school uniform of some kind into jeans and a plain red top with an apron tied around her waste. She was casually tying back her brown hair and as she stopped beside them she smiled brightly. "Hello," she said cheerfully. "You guys aren't from around here, are you. We normally only get locals."

Alister smiled kindly. "Locals? Not many people from further out then? Quiet little town."

The girl smiled back. "Yeah, I guess. Why would anyone want to come here, though. It's a little remote. And really boring."

Zip laughed and reached forward to ruffle Alister's hair. "Off he goes, daydreaming about his own house here." This earned him an irritated glare from Alister, but at least the girl found it funny.

She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small book. "Well, I suppose you're ready to order?"

"Er, yeah." Zip glanced at the menu to refresh his memory. "A tea," he looked pointedly at Alister. "A coffee, cheese on toast, probably just one slice," he looked at Alister again. "And no cheese. And a mini roast special." He grinned as the girl scribbled away.

"Right, shouldn't be too long. We're not exactly run off our feet here. I'm Emma, by the way. If you need anything, just call me."

Zip waited until she had retreated into the kitchen before he burst out laughing. Alister raised a questioning eyebrow and Zip had to calm himself before speaking.

"She was totally checking you out man!"

"Just give me your phone!" Alister snapped and Zip's laughter was silenced aptly. He frowned as he took the phone from his pocket and handed it over.

"Why exactly?"

Alister didn't answer right away, instead focused on dialling, each time he dialled the number he let it ring once before quickly ending the call, and on his forth attempt he held it to his ear patiently.

"Who are you calling?" Zip asked again.

"Lara," Alister replied shortly.

Zip opened his mouth to speak, but Alister held up his hand to silence him. He frowned as he listened to the pre recorded message, and eventually sighed and hung up. "Nothing yet."

He handed the phone back to a confused Zip. "What the...?"

They both stopped again as Emma hurried through the door, carefully balancing two plates of food on her forearms whilst her hands were occupied with the tea and coffee. As she reached the table she gasped out, "Oh dear, take it, quick, quick!" and Zip did, relieving her of both plates. The smaller one that had two slices of buttered toast he set down in front of Alister. The other he held a moment longer as it warmed his hands, and he slowly put it down on the table as Emma handed Alister his tea and placed Zip's coffee down next to his plate.

As Emma disappeared once more into the kitchen, Zip snatched up his knife and fork and began shovelling Yorkshire pudding and sausage into his eager mouth. Alister wrinkled his brow at the American, choosing to delicately nibble at his toast, washing each bite down with the tea.

"So," Zip spoke surprisingly clearly through a mouth full of food without spraying it everywhere, an art that he had perfected over the years. "What did you mean, you were calling Lara?"

Alister glared at him, muttering something about barns and animals with better table manners, before sighing. "Lara has an emergency number. I suppose. She leaves a message for us if there is something wrong and she has no other way to contact us. No one else knows the number, so it should be a secure method of contact. "

"How come I never got to hear about this."

Alister sent him an almost irritated look, and sipped at his tea. "You didn't need to, I know about it."

...

They didn't speak of Lara or their predicament again while until they had left the cafe, Zip wanting to go back to the van and continue their journey to wherever it was to take them, but Alister managed to convince to stay for a while in the village, eagerly and efficiently sniffing out the one and only book store, aptly named the "One And Only". Zip uncomfortably shifted as the quiet of inside grated on his mind, oddly reminding him of a graveyard. One that smelled of books. He surprised himself by managing to keep his mouth shut for at least ten seconds before the first words of what was to be a long monologue, interrupted only by choking sounds of "Quiet, Zip, please!" and hasty apologies, burst forth.

"At least they have a sense of humour."

"Mind you, probably had years to think that one up."

"Are we going to be much longer?"

"Do you think they'll burst into flame if they go out in the sun?"

"You know what, I bet you've read every book that's here already."

"Look, I can touch the ceiling."

"I sometime think you'll burst into flames..."

"You're not seriously checking _every_ book."

"Alister, it's official, you have no life."

"Something smells musky."

Alister allowed Zip to take them to the closest thing that resembled a pub, oddly enough named "Only One" ("I'm starting to see a theme here. See Alister, this is why you don't live in the remote countryside, people'll build a cult from toothpicks if they have to, it's the only thing that keeps them entertained. Someone here might have a TV, but I bet you a pint they don't know what it's for"), and begrudgingly bought a round for the two of them; Zip ended up drinking both pints after Alister had rejected the alcohol after a tentative sip.

It was mid afternoon when they gave up on finding anything interesting worth pursuing in the small village and now they sat in the van. Alister had absorbed himself in a book that he had just purchased in the "One And Only" from which Zip had mockingly dragged him from whilst loudly telling the owners that they would soon be out of stock if he didn't. Zip had dedicated his time to dialling and redialling the emergency number he had persuaded Alister to write down for him, and each time he felt more frustrated as Lara's voice related to him the same message over and over.

"Stay where you are. I'm not quite sure what we're up against..."

As the small clock in the dash board turned three, Zip stared in amazement at how quickly Alister was making his way through the book. He was already two thirds of the way through, and there looked to be a good six hundred pages in total. He seemed to be turning over the page every minute, and from what Zip could see, the writing was certainly not in the largest of fonts.

"No wonder you need glasses."

"Hm?" Alister murmured, not actually raising his head, but peering at Zip over the rim of his glasses.

"Ah, nothing," Zip waved his hand nonchalantly as he once again dialled in the number and pressed the call button, holding the phone to his ear.

"Stay where you are." Zip sighed and lowered it again. "At the momen..." Zip was on autopilot and his thumb had already depressed the red 'end call' button as the gears in his brain were thrown into action.

"Alister!" he said, giving the historian an unnecessary shake. Alister was about to complain when he realised Zip's glee as he raised the phone to his ear

Zip began to relay the information to the alert and eagerly waiting Englishman.

"She's in France, checking out some dude called Gerrick." Alister frowned as Zip continued. "Winston's hidden with some bloke on the south coast. Ah, we have.. bad guys on our tail. She's not being specific, but she says not to come near the manor, stay away from major cities, alright, shut it," he added at Alister's raised 'I told you so' eyebrow. "She's not sure whether or not they know where we are, or where we're headed. Good, coz neither do we." Zip looked out the window for effect. "Either way, don't think they've found us."

Alister shook his head, his frown deepening in thought, but he didn't speak, instead waiting patiently for Zip to continue.

However, Zip remained silent as he listened intently to the message. At its apparent end he hung up and put the phone in his pocket. Alister waited, but when it appeared Zip wasn't going to enlighten him as to the end of the message, he spoke up. "The last part, Zip."

Zip shook his head. "Nothing, Lara just repeating herself."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"We should be going."

Zip laughed. "Hey man, take it easy."

"Zip," Alister said very seriously. "That man, this morning. We should go."

The hacker sighed, hearing the unspoken 'please' on the end, and looking at Alister thoughtfully, he nodded. "Yeah, alright," and with that he placed his hand on the door handle and pulled whilst pushing the door open at the same time.

"Zip?" Alister half shouted.

"It's alright. I'm going to ask directions, see if there's a motel or something somewhere out of the way that isn't so known or something."

Alister frowned. "Oh, and who are you going to ask for directions to said motel?"

Zip climbed out and shrugged. "That chick in the cafe," and he shut the door, gave Alister a wave, and walked up the alley that led street side.

Almost immediately Alister's senses sharpened becoming over aware of all the shadows and little noises that he knew weren't even threatening, but his mind was telling him otherwise. He stared relentlessly out of the window, hardly daring to blink as though such an action would signal a phantom assailant to leap from his hiding place. Eventually his eyes began to water, and he blinked rapidly to clear them of the persistent sting brought on by the salty tears. He gazed at the clock, seeing Zip had only been gone six minutes, he leaned back in his seat, drawing in a deep breath that he let out slowly as he rubbed wearily at his eyes.

Unsure how long Zip was going to be (he had at first thought not long, but knowing Zip there were probably a few chat up lines he's like to try out on poor, unsuspecting Emma; he chuckled to himself that he had actually remembered her name), he reached to pick up his book, but his hand strayed from it's destined course and found itself opening the glove compartment instead. Inside he found a satellite phone, and he slowly picked it up, turning it over as he glanced curiously up the alley. He held it a moment before dialling in a number and holding the phone to his ear.

"Winston?"

...

Zip returned with a small paper bag in one hand a huge grin plastered across his face. He climbed joyously into the van and sat for a moment, waving the bag in front of Alister's face. The historian silently wished Zip had received thorough counselling and help understanding his ridiculous, ignorant, audacious and irritating behaviour and how to resist being a moron, and chuckled inwardly as he made a sincere mental note of bringing it up with Lara.

Eventually Zip's arm tired and he stopped. "Gummy bears, Alister. Your favourite."

Alister didn't return Zip's insistent smile and after a while he let out a sigh. "I spoke to Winston and Lara's left a message with him..."

Zip waited patiently for a moment for Alister to continue, before remembering patience wasn't his most obliging sentiment. "Yes, and...?"

"It's not good. Lara doesn't even know who's after her. Winston is in hiding. He says Lara's instructions are to head north."

"Is that it?"

Alister seemed to think for a while as though he couldn't quite remember if there was something else said before nodding silently. "That was all."

They sat in silence for a minute, Alister lost in though, and Zip looking mildly uncomfortable, certain that there was something the Englishman wasn't telling. As he put the keys in the ignition and nodded in consolidation to himself, if Alister could have secrets, so could he. Without another word he turned the engine on and realised glumly it was going to be a long drive.

...

It was dark when they pulled into the motel car park, and upon Alister's insistence Zip drove the van straight through and round to a small garage section. They parked inside and Zip climbed out, took a mental note of the garage number they were taking.

"You know this costs extra."

Alister looked at him tiredly before reaching behind the chairs and taking the suitcase that he lugged out the van with him, almost dropping it as his right arm complained loudly at him. He let out the smallest of whimpers and hurriedly pushed the door shut and changed the case to his left hand. Zip was already out the garage, and this realisation made Alister's senses flare up again as he stared wide eyed into the garage trying to discern shapes through the blackness. He half ran from the garage, earning a curious gaze from Zip who pressed a button on his key ring to lock the van, and he turned to shut the garage door once Alister was out.

"You okay?" Zip asked as he saw Alister shiver. He himself was rather well protected as his coat ad a warm, furry inside, but Alister hadn't had the time to prepare well when they had been forced to leave; he'd rushed to the library to collect the case while Zip had used that time to grab useful items, like a coat. Now he felt bad for not thinking to grab something for Alister.

"Let's j-just get insi-si-side."

They startled the lady who sat at the check-in desk, absentmindedly colouring her nails as the two men suddenly burst through the main doors.

She barely held back a scream of surprise, but quickly composed herself as the black man walked over to her, leaving the other to stand nervously peering outside. She quickly pushed her hair back behind her ear. "Can I help you?"

"Erm," the man spoke with a very American accent. "We want a room, that we can share, but not like that, ya know."

She blinked. "Well, I have a small family room available. I'm sorry, it's not exactly what you want, but we don't have..."

"Oh, that's fine," the man smiled.

She smiled back at him, "Wonderful, can you just quickly fill the out, please."She handed him a form and a pen and as Alister watched on suspiciously he filled it out quickly, leaving a fake name, phone number and number plate, writing down the garage number. Once finished, he checked over it to make sure there was nothing that could identify him before handing it back.

"Thank you," the lady said, checking it over herself before grabbing a stamp and some ink. She signed it and gave it a stamp, moving to file it in a drawer before saying, "That would be £45 please.

Zip reached to pull out his card when Alister suddenly stepped forward, elbowing the hacker roughly. "We'll pay cash, if that's alright."

The lady smiled falsely and nodded. "That would be great."

Zip swore at himself, giving Alister's glare a small shrug whilst he counted out some notes which he exchanged for the keys to their room.

"Just down that corridor, up the stairs, first door," she said politely. "Good night."

They both walked determinedly down in the direction they were given.

The room they were given was divided into three rooms; the first was the room with a double bed, also the largest with pale yellow walls, the bed stood in the middle, pushed up against one wall, adorned with creamy covers, a beige tinted blankets and far more pillows than could possibly be necessary, and a chair by the window. Then there was a door that led down a small corridor, on the left was a built in wardrobe for belongings, on the right the tiny bathroom barely big enough to accommodate the toilet, shower and sink combination someone had miraculously made fit ("I suppose a childhood of Tetris is vital to becoming an designer of sorts" Zip sniggered as Alister tested out the shower for space), and at the other end was another bedroom, this one obviously meant for the children, and there were two single beds with light blue covers.

Alister's initial reaction was that they should both sleep in the same room, for safeties sake, a proposition he never voiced, however, as Zip leapt bodily onto the double bed.

"Ah, motels! So much better now." Zip lay spread eagled on top of the covers, closing his eyes contentedly. "Remember the days when ya had to sleep on the couch cause you were the kid?"

At the lack of verbal response, Zip cracked an eye open to see Alister stood staring morbidly out the window. He sits up and his hand shoots up to cover his mouth as it opens. Alister saw the action as a reflection in the window and turned to him, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Did you just physically stop yourself from speaking?"

Zip shrugged. "You know there is nothing actually connected here," he pointed enthusiastically to his mouth, "and here, somewhere," he waved his hand to indicate vaguely to his head.

There was a moments more silence as Alister returned to gazing out the window, and although Zip was glad to see at least the faintest trace of a smile, he couldn't help feeling annoyed at the increasing number of awkward silences between the two. It was the longest time they had spent together without one or the other being able to retreat to the confines of their own specialised work spaces.

He winced as his stomach growled loudly, the sound seemingly deafening in the silent room. Alister cast him an amused look, as Zip had the courtesy to look a little sheepish.

"I'm hungry too," Alister grinned.

Zip stared at him in mock shock, "You don't know what hunger is! I haven't eaten since lunch time! I think I'm going to go food hunting."

Alister watched him as he stood, looking around as thought searching for something before nodding in the historians direction. "Keep the doors locked, I won't be long." And with that he left.

Alister stood a while before quickly darting around the rented room, checking and double checking the doors and windows were all closed and locked, and once he was assured they were, he retreated to the bathroom, looking longingly at the shower.

"I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to make sure Zip uses you too."

...*insert shower scene with lots of hot water and those shots where they take the camera down the body but never quite far enough... hmph*...

By the time Zip got back, Alister had already been waiting for what felt like hours, watch in hand, staring holes into the door. He leapt about half a foot into the air at the first knock, and was fiddling with the locks on the second. Zip barely managed to stop the forward motion of his balled fist as the door was wrenched open on the third.

Alister stepped aside, waving an inviting hand, eyeing the bag Zip had with him, but the hacker didn't enter the room right away, instead opting to stare at Alister with amused eyes. "Bit jumpy aren't we."

"I'm hungry," was the only reply as Alister eagerly relieved Zip of the bag he was carrying. Taking to the bed he began emptying the contents as Zip locked the door. "Chinese! Damn. I don't like any of the same things as you."

Zip laughed. "Don't worry, I thought of you. There, rice."

However hungry Alister originally thought he was he wasn't prepared for his appetite to all but disappear after the first few mouthfuls. Zip, ever on the ball when it came to food, noticed that Alister was only playing with his dinner before even the historian was aware. Zip shook his head, and groaned inwardly, knowing that he would have to say something, knowing he was the worst person when it came to having to say something.

He chewed thoughtfully before giving into the hopeless gloominess that seemed to have enshrouded Alister.

"Clichéd as it sounds, everything's gonna be alright. And it's the truth, that's what makes it a cliché."

Alister looked up at him with unreadable, sky blue eyes, shaking his sadly. "But this is Lara. It's not a cliché."

...

The time was just past three in the morning. Zip and Alister had stayed awake until half past one talking about things to cheer each other up. Every now and then the conversation turned inevitably back to their current situation, after which they would stop talking and sit in silence until one or the other got bored.

But eventually Zip, complaining about how he was used to his ten hours of sleep, began to drift off, and after saying good night, promptly fell asleep leaving Alister to clear plates and empty food cartons from the bed. He lay awake in one of the single beds feeling more and more miserable as time went by. Every time he closed his eyes unbidden thoughts arose and tormented him, then the tiniest sound would bring him back to full awareness and he would sit up, trembling, and forcing himself not to move as he strained to hear what was only the wind, or Zip turning over in his sleep. He battled with himself, determined not to go into Zip's room.

Ri – Chapter 3 in progress...still


End file.
